RIKKA, Ruki, Asuka and Sayaka. You may all be kind people, come to celebrate a good friend’s birthday, but I will show you that there is nothing worth celebrating about me.
“Me ‘playing’ a villain? Don’t make me laugh, girls.”
Sayaka made the first move. “Why is that act so important to you?”
I tilted my head. “Act? This isn’t an act, dear.”
“A real bad person wouldn’t feel the need to go around proclaiming they are one,” she replied.
“Just like how a good person wouldn’t go around proclaiming they’re a good person?”
Sayaka nodded.
“Generalizations, really? That’s what we’re going with today?” I countered. “Are we suggesting that we live in a world so simplistic that bad people never say they’re bad and good people never say they’re good?”
Complete B.S. I didn’t even know what I was saying. But it didn’t matter; the goal was to muddy the waters.
Asuka seemed poised to speak. “But you invited us to your house! We practiced so much for the kibasen! That was all for Nonoka, wasn’t it?”
“It was to uphold my pride as a Sakurazaka. I believe that was made abundantly clear?”
Two targets down; Rikka stepped up to the plate. “Are you saying you don’t care at all what happens to Ms. Nonoka’s heart sister?”
“You mean a complete stranger? Heavens, am I supposed to care for every single person in need?”
Suffering is ubiquitous. We can’t save everyone, so we prioritize loved ones. To Nonoka, Miyu was important—perhaps the only family she had left—but to me, she was nobody.
Next to try and probe for holes in my defense was Ruki. “By that logic, you’d save your own sister, wouldn’t you? What did Shizuki promise you?”
And, uh, find one he did. As expected of Ruki. But I knew this day would come, so I’d prepared an excuse beforehand. “Yes, I did request that in exchange for my adoption, Shizuku be transferred to a hospital with better care, but that was the extent of our deal.”
The most believable falsehoods are those seasoned with a grain of truth. Though that line didn’t exactly establish any villainous motivations, it didn’t preclude any either, leaving the door wide open for me to build on that. Unless Nonoka somehow learned about what I did for Miyu, I should be in the clear.
Yep, just keep laying it down. “Sayaka, Asuka, I befriended you because I just so happened to need a few pawns to carry out my will. The inherent power imbalance in our relationship ensures your inability to betray me.”
“That is not true!” Asuka yelled; Sayaka nodded silently next to her.
You two are good girls. I’m sorry I ever painted you as nothing but unthinking stooges. But sadly, this mental note is as close to an apology as you’re going to get.
“Yes, very good,” I said. “That level of unquestioning faith was precisely what I aimed to cultivate in you.”
My words seemed to have the intended effect, as the girls gasped in shock, any potential rebuttals they had evaporated into silence.
Seeing their stunned expressions, I couldn’t help but feel a pang of regret. Honestly, it was a little disappointing how things ended up this way. Had it been up to me, I would’ve kept them by my side, and not just because I had to. It was just too bad the circumstances were far from my control. If dropping Asuka and Sayaka was required to convince Rikka and Ruki of my intentions, I would drop them as readily as a gecko dropped its tail.
But just as I was about to continue, a sudden commotion drew my attention. There seemed to be a disturbance outside the party room, breaking the tense silence that settled over us.
“This is a Corporate Legacy exclusive facility. Do you have a permission slip to enter?”
“No, we don’t. But you have to let us in, my friends are in there!”
“Well, I’m very sorry. But friend or not, I can’t let you in without a permission slip.”
It sounded like a conversation between the facility manager and a girl whose sweet and bubbly voice was unsettlingly familiar. Don’t tell me that’s…
“Nonoka, come on, you heard her, let’s go.”
It was. And she wasn’t alone. Not good. She was the last person I wanted to see right now.
Actually…no. This was a chance. A chance to close the book on the chapter of our relationship. Making that decision, I motioned for one of the attendants and told them to grant Nonoka entry. A moment later, the attendant returned with Nonoka and Natsumi in tow.
“Nonoka,” I said. “This place isn’t meant for the likes of you and your ilk. Kindly take your friend and be on your way.”
“Ms. Mio. I owe you everything!” she said.
Hm? That’s strange. I swear I just said something unequivocally dismissive and mean, didn’t I? Censured her with all my resolve, and yet, what was that? “I owe you everything”?
“Are you listening to me, Nonoka?” I asked.
“I am! Miyu’s surgery was a complete success!”
“Is that so? Good for her, I suppose?”
“I am!” my butt. You weren’t listening at all, were you? It took a special kind of person to declare their attentiveness so boldly when it was clearly absent.
“Oh, come on, Ms. Mio, there’s no use playing dumb now! You were the one who convinced her to go through with it, weren’t you?”
Wha—?! My whole being shook. I pretended to play it off, but Rikka, Ruki, Asuka, and Sayaka were already staring daggers into me. Stop it… Stop it! All my hard work… Not again!
“Wh-What on earth are you talking about, girl?” I deflected with a sweep of my hair. She had no proof.
“I don’t understand. Why don’t you want to take credit? You also asked Miyu to keep it a secret, didn’t you?”
“What?!” I yelled.
Wait, wait, wait… What?!
Miyu? We made a promise. A pinky promise. A pinky promise not to tell Nonoka!
“Oh, right! She wrote you a letter. Here.” Nonoka handed me an envelope.
I snatched it from her hands and began reading. I didn’t care that accepting the letter was as good as proof of our acquaintance. It was already blown when Nonoka produced that letter in the first place. I needed to know. I needed to know why she broke our promise!
Dear big sister Mio,
I’m all good now thanks to you!
I’m sorry for breaking our promise, but the truth is…my name is Miyu, not Miu! Which means your promise with “Miu” didn’t count. Tee-hee.
Who taught her that?! Who taught her she could break a promise over a technicality like that?! And seriously, “tee-hee?!” Who ends a letter with “tee-hee?!” The future of Japan might be in jeopardy now, all because of a “tee-hee!” “Tee-hee!”—the phrase that ruined a country!
I trusted her… I actually trusted her…
“Oh, but, she said she’d keep the other secret,” Nonoka said. “What other secret?”
The other secret? Shizuku?
“None of your business,” I snapped.
“Hmph. Fine, I get it. You like Miyu more than me,” she pouted.
You’re getting jealous? You’re seriously getting jealous?!
“You… I… Do you know how hard I…” I started to babble incoherently. I swear Nonoka. I understood your concern for Miyu better than anyone else in this room. So do you know how hard it was to pretend I didn’t care?!
“Nonoka, I think we should go,” Natsumi said, tugging on Nonoka’s arm.
“Oh. Yeah, let’s go.” Nonoka nodded at her, then looked at me. “Thank you again, Ms. Mio. I really do owe you everything. And just for the record, I never doubted you. I never doubted for a second you wouldn’t do the right thing.”
My heart softened. But I had to act otherwise as I stared into a wall, pretending I hadn’t heard.
“Um, yeah,” Nonoka added awkwardly. “Anyways, would you go see her again when you have the chance? It would really mean the world to her. She’s been asking to see her big sister Mio ever since she got out of the operating room.” She turned to Rikka and Ruki. “Sorry for interrupting.”
“Oh, not at all,” Rikka said. “In fact, we’re appreciative, aren’t we, cousin?”
“Indeed. That was thoroughly enlightening. Thank you, Nonoka,” Ruki added.
I could hear the smirks on their faces. Nonoka, with no idea what was happening, tilted her head in confusion before she excused themselves and left with Natsumi. As they reached the door, Natsumi paused and turned around.
“Ms. Mio, I apologize for my behavior on Sports Day. I reacted emotionally and lashed out at you, and I deeply regret it. Nonoka was right about you all along.”
Then, without another word, without even waiting for my response, she closed the door behind her. I was left all alone with a hungry pack of wolves.
Rikka snapped open her folding fan and giggled coquettishly.
Yep, here we go.
“What was that you said earlier, Ms. Mio? ‘Nonoka? I couldn’t care less about that girl!’” she said in a mocking tone.
“The lady certainly doth protest too much, doesn’t she?” Ruki said with a sly grin.
“I knew it!” Sayaka and Asuka added.
Well, let’s see; what could I possibly say here? First, a quick recap. I was on a mission to get my hands on a cure for my sister’s terminal illness. To do so, I had to unite the zaibatsus. To accomplish that, I had to set Nonoka up with the love of her life. And to achieve that, I needed to be denounced as the villainess and face my downfall.
Yep. I needed to be a despicable villainess who did despicable things. Otherwise, why would I try so hard to fight against my conscience trying to do things I obviously found uncomfortable?
Okay. Good recap. But where did I stand now? I had just been thoroughly and convincingly exposed to not be a despicable person. At this rate, I’d never earn the infamy I needed to be denounced. What was worse, any other wicked deed I committed from this point onward would be seen as some front for another good deed, and that meant I was really screwed.
On the other hand, what were my options, realistically? Admit that I’d been playing a part this entire time? No, absolutely not.
Thus, even at rock bottom, my only option was…to keep digging.
“D-Don’t get the wrong idea. It’s not like I did that to help Nonokaaa!” I yelled, fleeing from the party room at full speed.